Ordered Macroporous inorganic structures providing particular reflectance properties are known. They are generally known as inverse opals.
The manufacture of such ordered macroporous inorganic structures is also well known in the art.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,013 in particular provides a method of forming an inorganic macroporous material by forming a colloidal crystal template of a sample of organic polymer particles, the colloidal crystal template comprising a plurality of organic polymer particles and interstitial spaces there between; adding an inorganic precursor composition comprising a noncolloidal inorganic precursor to the colloidal crystal template such that the precursor composition permeates the interstitial spaces between the organic polymer particles; converting the noncolloidal inorganic precursor to a hardened inorganic framework; and removing the colloidal crystal template from the hardened inorganic framework to form such macroporous material.
Inverse crystal compounds or inverse opals are also known from WO2008/141971 and US2006/0002875.
However, implementing such three-dimensional ordered macroporous inorganic structures within cosmetic compositions has been attempted but has not been found satisfactory until now in particular as far as loss in the dyeing efficacy has been stated.
Indeed, when cosmetic compositions containing said inverted opals are deposited onto supports, specifically keratinic material, it has been observed that the color intensity and saturation decrease dramatically to provide brownish or greyish shades.
There is therefore a need of inverted opals containing cosmetic compositions which afford color intensity when deposited onto keratinic substrates without dye nor colored pigment.
It is frequent that people with colored skin wish to lighten it and in general use biologically active lightening agents such as hydroquinone and its derivatives, kojic acid and its derivatives, azelaic acid, arbutin and its derivatives or alpha-hydroxyacids.
Some people also use these bleaching agents to mitigate, or even eliminate, skin dyschromias occurring either with age or following exposure to UV radiation, with the mask of pregnancy, or with any other skin pathology.
Such bleaching agents act by modifying the biological activity of melanocytes and thereby limit the pigmentation due to the formation of melanin.
As a result, the effects of such bleaching agents appear only slowly, meaning several days, after the iteratively and prolonged use.
On the other hand, these bleaching agents do not modulate the color of enlightened skin as far as they act only on the endogenous biosynthesis of melanin. Furthermore, some of these agents such as hydroquinone or its derivatives are to some extent cytotoxic. More broadly, these bleaching agents sometimes induce allergic phenomena or severe skin irritation.
Therefore, several proposals have been made to afford cosmetic compositions trying to give an immediate enlightenment of the skin complexion.
It is common for people wishing to enlighten the color of their skin or alleviate dyschromias with an immediate perception, to use cosmetic compositions giving enlightenment of the skin complexion but with a whitish appearance. These compositions contain white diffusing pigments ensuring their opacity and covering power, necessary to achieve the desired effect. Moreover, they create an effect of particularly undesirable visible greyish color on the dark skin colors, notably of black color. In order to limit this undesirable greyish effect, the publication FR 2 872 032 proposes cosmetic compositions containing solid particles of refractive index included between 1.2 and 1.5, stemming from the family of organopolysiloxane elastomers, a liquid binder with a refractive index between 1.2 and 1.6, and a coloring agent so that the h index value is included between 40 and 70° and the saturation C value between 20 and 50. Although the skin color obtained after application of compositions containing these ingredients is less mat than with those described in the publications FR 2 848 821 (US2005/036964) and FR 2 848 822 (US2005/019285) as discussed herein after, the effect of enlightenment remains unfortunately slightly perceivable with no possible complexion modulation. Moreover, the covering power creates opacity which makes lose natural appearance of skin, its transparency and clarity. In particular, it generates a gray and muddy complexion effect.
The publications FR 2 778 561 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,065), FR 2 810 881, FR 2 873 021 and WO2001/43714 propose the use of optical brightening agents or more generally fluorescent agents, eventually in combination with skin bleaching agents, UV filters, anti-aging products or moisturizing agents. However, the effect of skin enlightenment is not completely satisfactory and does not allow a color modulation that fit as much as desirable the color shade of the various complexions.
To address the above concerns, the publications FR 2 848 821 and FR 2 848 822 propose cosmetic compositions containing at least one dye and at least a reflective particles the color of which goes from pinkish beige to orange-beige, characterized by a color h value between 50° and 70° and a color saturation C value included between 20 and 50. The limit of this solution lies in the use of dyes absorbing the light and then producing a mat effect which cannot be corrected by the reflective particles described in these publications. Therefore, the luminosity of these compositions remains relatively weak and the skin color enlightenment effect unsatisfactory.
There is therefore a need for cosmetic compositions which ensure the enlightenment of the skin color without covering or opacifying the skin.
There is also another need for cosmetic compositions which ensure the enlightenment of the skin color without generating a gray or muddy coloring effect of the skin.
There is therefore another need for cosmetic compositions which ensure the enlightenment of the skin color along with a natural appearance of the skin color of complexion.
Furthermore, there is another need for cosmetic compositions which ensure the enlightenment of the skin complexion the perceived result of which is immediate.
There is therefore a need of reflecting systems that reflect light in the visible range, which the reflection intensity of which is high enough to make perceptible optically enlightenment of the skin and which are characterized by increased stability under natural light irradiation and chemical stability vis-à-vis the ingredients of cosmetic compositions containing them, in particular vis-à-vis a hydrophilic medium.
There further exists a need to be able to have available reflecting systems for improving the complexion of the skin, in particular its uniformity, promoting the optical enlightenment of the skin and for reducing defects of pigmentation of the skin.
There is also a need for reflecting systems for reducing a defect of pigmentation of the skin.
There is also a need for reflecting systems that are transparent enough to give the skin on which the cosmetic compositions containing them are applied non-opaque, clear and natural appearance but no covering appearance.
There is also a need for reflecting systems conferring intensity in color.
There is also a need that the effect of skin enlightenment is immediately perceived, is persistent over time and provides a flexible color tone to be chosen depending on the different types of treated skin.
There is also a need to benefit from three-dimensionally ordered macroporous inorganic structures or inverse opals that can be used to obtain optically enlightenment of the human keratinous material and that do not lose their optical properties and efficacy when applying them to keratinic materials via cosmetic compositions, in particular comprising a hydrophilic medium.
There is also a need to develop reflecting systems for achieving enlightenment of the human keratinous material without dulling.
There is also a need to develop reflecting systems that intensively reflect light when implemented within a cosmetic composition for an application to the keratin materials, in particular comprising a hydrophilic medium.
The invention aims to achieve all or some of these objects.